News & Accolades

KIRKUS REVIEW

"In 1964, Dr. G. Bennet Humphrey worked in the leukemia ward at the National Institute of Health in Maryland and was tasked with administering a drug protocol called POMP, an initialism that captured the four drugs it included:prednisolone, Oncovin, methotrexate, and Purinethol. While POMP could send leukemia into remission, effectivelycuring patients previously considered terminal, it also delivered debilitating side effects: toxicity, nausea, vomiting,bleeding, and infections, and it sometimes could result in fatality. Nevertheless, the author and his two colleagues, Dr.Gerald Sandler and Dr. Rick Lottsfeldt, were ordered by their supervisor, Dr. Emil “Jay” Freireich, to press on with thetreatment. In some cases, in order to protect their patients from the effects of POMP, they violated protocol. The anguishof seeing young children suffer because of a treatment they loathed took an emotional toll on Humphrey and hiscolleagues: “I was tired of writing orders that could cause toxicity, tired of looking for toxicity all week long, tired offinding toxicity, and tired of watching patients die of toxicity.” The author details the year he spent working in pediatric oncology and discusses not only his clinical experience, but also the relationships he forged with his young patients and their parents, the friendships made with his two colleagues, and the diversions he turned to for solace from the pain ofbeing a daily witness to suffering. Humphrey writes with impressive clarity even when discussing highly technicalmedical matters, and he poignantly expresses the visceral challenges of his work. He also adds another personal layer tothe story by chronicling his romantic life at the time and the loneliness he felt but could not adequately communicate toothers. The author’s remembrance is as moving as it is scientifically edifying.​An affecting, candid recollection about the human costs of medical research." - Kirkus Reviews

WRITER'S DIGEST JUDGES COMMENTARY

- from 25th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards

Breaking Little Bones is a first-hand account from a children’s leukemia specialist about his practice at 2 East, a children’s leukemia ward in the 1960s. It is a difficult book to read due to the well-drawn spectacles of the children suffering from their illnesses, and all that entails on a physical and emotional level. The author’s voice is self-effacing. It is easy to like him and to see how deeply he cares about his patients. Nonetheless, I found it wrenching to read about the levels of pain a five-year-old endured (and would have to keep enduring on a monthly basis) during a bone marrow procedure (35). The reader will wonder why said young patients could not be put under! I was horrified by the author’s disclosure about pain levels or attitudes of other doctors. Dr. Freireich, for instance, seemed to believe emotional involvement from doctors was not helpful, but the reader begins to understand that unless emotionally removed, some doctors cannot cope. On the contrary, I appreciated Humphrey drawing a picture for John to help him understand his torment, and playing or holding other patients. I was reading through tears. I liked the author’s observation that young patients would frequently wait until an important event was over, like a holiday or a question asked, and then die. I loved Dr. Humphrey’s attitude that the kids in Ward 2 were children, not patients. It was noble of Humphrey to get endorsements from the doctors he wrote about. This is a sad but important testimony to the history of leukemia treatment in children.

Author Spotlight: G Bennett Humphrey

Thank you for your interest in my creative non-fiction/memoir: BREAKING LITTLE BONE /Triumph And Trauma, The First Cures Of Childhood Leukemia

My editor at CreateSpace descripted my book as follows:

“In this profound, complex 1964 story, an internist, G. Bennett Humphrey, MD, PhD, chronicles his year on 2 East, the pediatric leukemia floor at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

With no training in pediatrics, the author confronts an entirely different world. From the beginning, he is amazed by the strength of the mothers, the compassion of the nurses, and the admirable ways the children cope with this devastating illness.”

Very factual! But the book is not about facts; it’s about children and their world as experienced on 2 East. I hope it is “profound.” I have tried to describe “the admirable ways the children cope with this devastating illness.”

In answering the six question which were submitted to me, I have presented short vignettes that describe the various ways children with leukemia shared their world with me.

#1. When did you first know you wanted to write a book about your year on 2 East? Tell us about that journey.

When did I first know? It was a slow journey.

Before I knew I wanted to write about 2 East, I had to first recognize that 2 East had transformed me (1964); then I had to accept that I wanted to be a pediatrician (1965) and was willing to retrain in pediatric oncology. (1966 – 1970)

As time went on, I started telling friends these poignant, funny and sad tales of 2 East, and I realized I wanted to share them with readers; nonprofessionals, health care professionals, or any reader of creative nonfiction. I wanted to tell them how wonderful kids are, and how much we can learn from a child dealing with stress.

#2. What was the most profound lesson you learned on 2 East?

A pediatric individual in your care is not a patient but a child.

The first half of the book is an internist observing and learning about 2 East through the mind set of internal medicine. Kids have mothers: adults have relatives. Kids are honest; adults down an appropriate façade. Love for kids; empathy for adults. These are a few examples from Part I. – The Learning Curve- of Breaking Little Bones.

#3. What did you learn about yourself?

I was 30 years old and I needed to come of age.

Despite a MD, PhD in Biochemistry, an internship and 2 years of residency in internal medicine, and a post doctorial fellowship in enzymology, I still didn't know how I was going to pursue an academic career, or how I was going to do try to contribute to my field.

#4. How does creative writing differ from academic writing?

In short, all my experience in writing articles, book chapters, and editing book on pediatric oncology has been of little value in creative writing. There is a joke among medical writers regarding the structure of an article:“First you tells ‘em what you are going to tell them.Then you tells ‘em.Finally, you tells ‘em what you told ‘em.”

This is a story not about me, but of something bigger than me; the children with leukemia that educated me on the various hues of love, the awe of maternal love, the respect of caring nurses, the camaraderie of two other young physicians who were also assigned to 2 East, and a respect for clinical research. Writing this book was a trip down memory lane, to inadvertently smile, chuckle or cry, a chance to relive the most profound year of my life, and an opportunity to reflect on some of the mistakes I made and some of the weakness of my personality.

One does not think in these terms when summarizing the results of a clinical trial for an academic publication.

They are very forgiving. The little ones yell, cry and have to be restrained when needles are used. Fifteen minutes later, they may want you to help put a puzzle together.

They all know many untold things. Jimmy’s mother didn’t want anybody telling her son he had leukemia. When he was admitted for terminal care, and she wasn’t in the room, he asked me, “How do kids get into heaven?”